The Deadly Nightshade
by meandthedoctor
Summary: Deadly Nightshade, revised and revisited: Belladonna Lestrange has been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but will the prejudices against her mothers name carry through to her generation and leave her victimised?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Dear Miss Lestrange,

We are please to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Yours sincerely,

Head Master, Professor Neville Longbottom

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Belladonna Lestrange was going to Hogwarts


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Belladonna Lestrange smiled as she pulled her dark, curly hair back into a bun on the top of her head. Finally, 1st September had arrived, the clock on the mantelpiece read ten forty-five, and before long the young witch would be steaming off towards Hogwarts. She had never been happier. She didn't think it was possible to be happier. She had been waiting for this moment for her whole life, the moment that she would finally be able to get away from the house and her mother and, well everything! It had taken an eternity, but now the time had come, the time for her to escape. After checking her trunk for the seventh time that morning, she quickly buckled it shut, and then dragged it down the many flights of stairs of the Lestrange Mansion, grabbing her owl's cage from off her bedside table on the way past.

After clattering down the stairs, she approached the kitchen door tentatively - she knew how her mother could be when she was in one of her moods. "Mother, I'm ready," Belladonna whispered from the door, looking at the ground, and trying to avoid her mothers piercing glare. Without uttering a word, Bellatrix grabbed her daughter by the arm, and turned on the spot, apparating them to Platform 9 and 3/4. Belladonna knew that her mother wouldn't be able to stay to say goodbye at the station - she was a convicted murderer after all, and the Ministry would be onto her before she could say 'Voldemort'. Donna ignored the startled glances from the older witches and wizards, who seemed to assume that she had somehow managed to apparate herself to the station, and after swallowing the slight feeling of nausea, she moved towards the train.

The train was due to leave within the next five minutes.

Donna managed to haul the her luggage up onto the train, with the help of a short wizard with grey hair, and after thanking him she set off in search of a compartment. It wasn't long before she came to a compartment in which sat two dark haired boys. One looked to be about her age, and so she slid the door open. "E-excuse me, could I sit here?" she asked nervously.

"Sure, come on in!" the older of the two replied. Donna dragged her trunk through the door and tried to lift it into one of the racks above their heads, before the older of the boys jumped up to help her.

"I'm James by the way. James Potter," he said, sticking out his hand for Donna to shake. She smiled at him. James Potter looked almost identical to his father - Donna had read about the Potters in the newspapers and the _Witch Weekly_. She had longed for a family like theirs.

"I'm Belladonna. Belladonna Lestrange," she replied. James froze and his face dropped.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" It seemed more like a statement than a question.

"I-I'm Bellado-" she stuttered, before he grabbed her by the shoulders and interrupted her.

"I heard what you said, you stupid girl!" he spat, the anger clear on his face.

Donna blinked in shock. "Excuse me, but you don't even know me!"

"I don't need to. Your mother is Bellatrix Lestrange," he stated, as though this determined her.

"So?"

"So? _Get the hell out of our compartment, you Death Eater scum!_" he roared, reaching around her, scrabbling for the door handle. Donna was backed against the door, and she tried to speak. All that she could emit was a terrified squeak. Wasn't this the exact sort of treatment that she had been trying to escape for the past eleven years? Wasn't Hogwarts supposed to be her escape? Was this abuse going to follow her everywhere she went?

Donna had almost forgotten about the other boy. He stood up. "James, don't be such an idiot. You're acting like Uncle Ron, honestly! You don't need to talk to her like that…"

James didn't even turn, instead gesturing behind him growling, "Keep out of this Albus! You wouldn't understand."

"I'll go, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry…" But what was she sorry for? For her heritage? Her existence? Donna didn't want to cry in front of this boy, but she could feel the panic rising within her. She felt him grab her by the scruff of her robes, before opening the door and pushing her out of the compartment. She slammed into the door of the opposite compartment, and slid to the ground. "You stay right out there, okay?" he yelled, before grabbing her trunk from out of the rack, and throwing it out beside her.

Donna was shocked. It was James Potter, the son of Harry Potter, the saviour of the Wizarding World, member of the family that she had coveted and idolised for so many years - and he had treated her like that? Like scum from the streets? She picked herself up, straightening out her robes and trying, unsuccessfully to ignore the stares and whispers from the neighbouring compartments; no doubt they had heard everything.

She set off in search of another empty compartment, but before she had walked more than three compartments down, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Oh, it was the other boy from the compartment.

"Belladonna, is it?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking off. She nodded her head and looked at her hands, wringing them nervously. "I'm Albus Potter," he said kindly. "Ignore my prat of a brother. He doesn't know when to shut up, sometimes. Is it your first year too?" Again, she only nodded, before looking up into a pair of startlingly green eyes. "Lets go and find another compartment." He grabbed the handle of Donna's trunk, and helped her pull it along.

Perhaps it wasn't all going to be bad. Maybe, she had found a friend, a friend that she needed now, more than ever before.

* * *

_A/N: I'll try and keep the author's notes short, so here I go! Thank you for reading! This is a revised version of an unfinished story that I uploaded a couple of years ago. I'm not going to beg you for reviews, but they would certainly help and be extremely appreciated. I'd really like to know what you think of my writing style, story line etc.. and I shall try to reply to as many reviews as possible. The next chapter will be up soon - so see you then!_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Albus led Donna down the end of the train, to a compartment where a pretty red headed girl of their age was sat. As he walked in, she leapt up and hugged him. "Whoa, Rose, you only saw me this morning!" Albus laughed, as he hugged her back. "I'd like you to meet Belladonna. Belladonna Lestrange. Donna, this is my cousin."

Rose looked a little surprised, perhaps at Albus' choice of friend but she realised how she must've looked and she smiled warmly, beckoning the girl in. "I'm Rose Weasley," she said, and she helped Albus hoist Donna's trunk up into the rack once more. "You'll have to look out for James, he can get a bit hotheaded."

"Yeah, I think we met…" Donna replied faintly, sharing a look with Albus. "I don't think he likes me all too much. Then again, it's not like our parents ever got on with the whole, constantly trying to kill one another thing…" She shut her eyes, and rubbed her temples. Trust Bellatrix to ruin almost any chance she had of friendships. She had hurt so many people, and now Donna had to pay for it.

"Exactly, Belladonna our _parents_ hated one another. Not us," Rose said, softly. "Just because you're her daughter, it doesn't mean that people can treat you like I imagine James did."

Donna smiled. "Call me Donna. Belladonna reminds me of my mother." She shuddered slightly.

It wasn't long before Albus and Rose were chatting away like old friends. A couple of hours into the journey, the sweet trolley arrived outside the door, and Albus leapt up, buying what seemed like half of its contents. He spread them out on a table that had materialised sharing them round.

"Wow, it looks like Uncle George has a load of Weasley Wizard Wheezes products on here!" Albus sighed, picking up a Ton-tongue Toffee. "He gave Uncle Dudley one of these years ago, when Dud's hated Dad, and he nearly choked on his tongue! Of course, he's corrected these…" he added hastily at the look on Donna's face, but she put the brightly covered toffee back down onto the table and tucked into a safe liquorice wand instead. The chocolate frogs were another popular purchase, and soon the three of them were exchanging cards.

"I've got Severus Snape!" Albus said, holding up a card with a photo of the hook nosed Potions master on the front. "I was named after him, you know."

"He turned traitor against You-Know-Who," Donna murmured, smiling at the thought.

"A little like yourself, I don't suppose?" came a sneering voice from the door. Donna looked up to see a tall pale boy with silver grey eyes and shockingly blonde hair standing in the doorway. Flanked behind him was a short, yet slightly overweight boy, with dark hair, and a tall and skinny red head.

"Scorpius," Donna exclaimed in surprise.

"Well, well, well. Won't mummy be so proud to hear that precious Belladonna has gone and made friends with Potty and the Weasel?"

"What are you even doing here, Scorpius?" Donna asked fiercely. "I thought you were supposed to be studying at Durmstrang!"

"Father and Aunty Bella decided that it would be best for us all if we stayed in Britain. She told me to check up on you. I don't know how please she is going to be when she hears about all of this," he replied, gesturing to Albus and Rose.

"I'll make friends with whomever I choose to make friends with!" Donna said angrily. "Just leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone!" And with that, she walked over to her cousin, pushed him out of the compartment, and slammed the door in his face. She was positively fuming when she turned around and returned to her seat.

Scorpius had ruined her mood for the rest of the journey. He was supposed to be going to Durmstrang, not Hogwarts, not here! She had spent that last few months, living in the hope that she might actually be free from her relatives for the best part of the year. She should have known it would be too good to be true!

"What house do you want to be in?" Albus asked, trying to brighten the mood a little. "I obviously want to be in Gryffindor! 'Where dwell the brave at heart!'"

"Yeah, me too," Rose agreed.

"I'll be happy in any house, as long as it isn't Slytherin. Then again, Mum would murder me. I'd be breaking the family tradition or something stupid," Donna said. "Man, this is going to be awful… If I'm a Slytherin, then everyone is going to think I'm just like my parents, but if I'm not, mum's gonna hate me! And Scorpius will be a complete nightmare." She groaned.

"Let's just promise one thing," Albus said, pulling out a pack of exploding snap cards. "Whatever house we get sorted into, we're staying friends, okay?"

Rose and Donna smiled. Friends.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for reading so far! If you have any ideas or suggestions, let me know in a review!_

_Thanks again guys! See you soon!_


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